Tourniquet



Oct. 14, 1941. E, g, SAIGHMAN 1 2,258,720-

4TOURNIQUE'I Filled Deo. 5o, 1958 2 sheets-sheet 1 20 5g y zz .55 7% 2INVENTOR,

ATTORNEYS.

')ct. 14, 1941: E. s. sAlGHMAN 2,258,720

i TOURNIQUET Filed Deo. 30, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /llllllllll fINVENTOR,

Ma/'af fsvy/Wa/z ATTORNEYS,

Patented Oct. 14, 1941 UNiTED STATES PAT sur i oFFrcE 81' Claims.

This invention relatesv to improvements in tourniquets and particularlyto an appliance for, retarding, with only a slight pressure, the. flow.of the venous blood and the lymph secretions in their tubular,superficial trunk vessels and in their chains of minor vessels locatedin the supercial fleshy portion of the body.

Most of the flexible type tourniquetsy now inv use are so constructed asto depend for their effective restriction of the fluid flow in thevessels on the applied tensile strain throughoutthe length of thetourniquet, to cause a constrictive pressure sufficiently to completelyretard the flow of blood of the venous and arterial vessels and also thelymph of the lymphatic system.. This common form of tourniquet is alsoconstructed to permit of a quick release of the con-1 strictive pressureafter certain corrective requirementshave been met. The tourniquets nowbeing used areV usually maintained under a. high tensile strain therebyeliminating to a large degree, the` pliability and extensibility of thecushion member to conform to the contour of.

the body member to eliminate its ability toexert4 therethrough withoutaffecting to any markedy degree, the flow of blood through the arterialvessels which are subject to a much higher intornai pressure.`

Another object of this invention is the provision of a tourniquet havingan elongated, elastic body member having one of its longitudinal surfaceportions of greater density than that of its other longitudinal surfaceportion, whereby a diierential of tensile strength at the opposite sidesof the elongated body member is obtained.

A further object is the provision of a tourniquet of the type describedwherein the outer portion of the tourniquet member is subjected to atensile strain while the inner portion thereof, is substantially freefrom tensile strain.

A stilll further object of this invention is the provision of atourniquet having an elongated body member and a relatively thickcushion member secured under compression thereto. y

A yet further object of this invention is the (Cl. 12S- 327) provisionof a tourniquet having an elastcbody member adapted to extend around abody andto'. be secured, under. tension,l and an elastic cushion.lmember securedY as a liner to. said body member and adapted to benormally maintained under compression by the body member.`

Further objects are simplicity and economy of construction, ease ofadjustment and Operation, and adaptability to conform to the irregularcontour of the body to effectually compress the soft` lumens therebyproducing hy-peraemia by an inward pressure and with al minimum ofconstrictive actionv to the, body portion.

Due to the decreasevofv constrictive pressure, necessary to produce ahyperaemia of the softer vessels as described, above, it. is possiblefor the patient to wear this tourniquet for a long period, of timewithout experiencing any material dis.-A comfort. With theseobjects aswell as others.. whichwill appear during thecourse of the speciicationvin View,` reference will now be hadv to the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tournquety embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a stretch-out of the tourniquet in the, process ofconstruction before the cover tube has been turned to cover thev cushionmember.

Fig. 3 is a. longitudinal sectional View of the tourniquet. 30 Fig. 4 isan enlarged cross sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig.. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional View taken 0n line V-V of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 isv a plan View of the tourniquet eX-\ 35 tended. y I Fig. 'T isan enlarged plan view of the tourniquet fo'reshortened and partiallysectioned to. disclose the inner construction.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary View of the tourniquet. 40 showing a modifiedform of the fastening means.

Fig. 9. is an enlarged sectional View taken onr line IX-IX of Fig. 8.

Fig. l0 isY a longitudinal sectional View show-v ing a modiiied form ofa tourniquet.

Fig. 11 is a cross sectional view taken on line` XI-XI of Fig. l0.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary sectional View of the tourniquet shown in Fig.10, with the parts extended.

Fig. 13 is a longitudinal sectional View of a portion of a modified formof the tourniquet.

Fig. 14 is a cross sectional view taken cn line XIV-XIV of Fig'. 13. y

Fig- 15 is an edge elevation of the disassembled 55 parts of a modifiedform of tourniquet; and,

Fig. 16 is an edge view of the parts shown in Fig. 15, after one of themembers has been compressed and secured to the other member.

Throughout the several views, like reference characters refer to similarparts and the numeral 20 designates an elongated body member, preferablymade of an elastic material such as rubber, and having a relatively hightensile strength. In certain instances it might be possible to make thisbody member of a substantially nonelastic material such as fabricatedcloth.

Secured to the one face of the body member 20 is a cushion member 22.While substantially any cushioning material might be used in theconstruction of this member, however a sponge rubber has been found mostsuitable because of its resilient and compressive qualities which permitit to function in the desired manner.

As shown in Fig. 2, it will be noted that cushion member 22 is securedin undulated form to body member 2l] at 24 by means of an adhesive;however, stitching or any other of the well-known fastening means mightbe substituted therefor.

It has been found very desirable in the use of this tourniquet to have asuitable covering for protecting cushion member 22 and to present asmooth, soft surface for contacting the body. This covering consists ofa tubular member 25 made of a lightweight elastic rubber of relativelylow tensile strength. In the manufacture of this tourniquet, the tubularmember covering is positioned in the following manner:

Body member 20 is secured by means of an adhesive to one side of tube26, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, and then the cushion member is securedto 20 as described above. After these operations, tube 26 is turnedinside-out to cover the tourniquet parts, as clearly shown in Figs. 3and 5.

While in many cases the tourniquet will be secured in position about thebody member by simply tying together the free ends thereof, yet, in viewof the fact that this tourniquet is used for regulating the iiow offluid through certain of the superficial vessels of the body, it hasbeen found desirable to provide an adjustable fastening whereby thetensioning of the tourniquet may be definitely determined andmaintained. For this purpose a resilient U-shaped member 28 with rebentend portions 30, is adapted to be positioned through openings 32 formedin tube 26 to contact body member 2l] and to be secured thereto by meansof an adhesive 34. The closed end of this U-shaped member 28 projectsoutwardly beyond the end of the tourniquet and is provided along itsouter edges with notched teeth 36. It is very apparent that thisresilient member may be compressed at its inner ends to cause a relativemovement of the extended arms thereof.

The opposite end of the tourniquet is provided with a sleeve 38 havinginwardly projecting tongues 40 for engaging teeth 36 when member 2S isinserted therein. This sleeve 38 is secured to the tubular member 26 andalso to body member 2D. It is deemed advisable that these twointerengaging members 28 and 38 be anchored to the body member 2D of thetourniquet since tubular member 25 is not depended upon to havesulicient tensile strength to cause a proper operation of the cushionmember against the surface.

Referring to Fig. 3 which shows the tourniquet with parts 28 and 22 inthe normal position, it is apparent that when body member 20 is extendedby a tensile force, the cushioning member may be moved to its normalstretched out position without producing any tensile strain therein.This feature is very important since in the use of this tourniquet it isdesirable to retain all of the pliability of the cushion member and thiscannot be accomplished when a tensile strain is exerted to stretch saidcushioning member.

Referring now to Figs. 8 and 9, it will be noted that the tourniquetcover tube 25 terminates at 42 while the body member 20 extendstherebeyond and passes over a longitudinally serrated tubular member 44carried by the U-shaped ear member 46 and secured against rotationthereon by means of pins 48. This U-shaped member 46 is provided withrebent arm portions 50 which are extended through openings 52 formed intubular member 26 and are attached to body member 2D by means of anadhesive 54. The extended end of body member 2U is suiciently long toextend beneath the end portion of the tourniquet and against the bodymember being operated upon, thereby insuring in combination with theserrated tubular member 44, a secure anchoring together of theextremities of the tourniquet. Y

The modified form of tourniquet shown in Figs. 10, l1 and 12,contemplates the use of body member 20 to which is attached a cushionmember 56 by means of a suitable adhesive at spaced apart points 58. Itwill be noted that cushion member 56 is provided with slits 60intermediate each of the attaching points. These slits extend from theinner portion of cushion 56 to a point spaced apart from the outersurface thereof so that when the tourniquet is in position about amember of the body, and the body member is extended, the slits will beopened as indicated at 52, while the inner surface of the cushion memberwill maintain an unbroken contact against the member of the body.`

A further modification, as shown in Figs. 13 and 14, provides a bodymember 20 to which is secured a cushion member. This cushion member isslit at 66. These slits extend inwardly from the outer surface thereofto a point spaced apart from its inner surface.` This constructionfunctions to allow a more definite differential of downward pressure ofadjacent portions of the pressure member. This is due to the fact thatthe adjacent portions of the cushion member at slits 66, may berelatively offset.

A further modification of the present invention is produced by unitingthe two members 20 and 68 as shown in Figs. 15 and 16. Fig. 15 shows thebody member 20 and cushion member 68 in their normal positions, whileFig. 16 shows the cushion member compressed and secured in any suitablemanner to body member 2 0. When so constructed the cushion member willnormally be under pressure but may be extended to its normal position ortherebeyond by exerting a sufficient force to extend body member 2B.This type tourniquet is similar to that shown in the preferred form andhas the added feature of securing the cushion member throughout itsentire length.

It is very apparent that the tourniquet described above, provides for acushioning member which may be applied to control the flow of venousblood and lymph adjacent the surface cf the body member withoutmaterially affecting the arterial vessels. This type of tourniquet forthe control of the said uids, is very benecial in treating many of thewell-known skin infections.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A tourniquet comprising a pliable elastic band, a relatively thickelastic cushion member of substantially uniform thickness secured inundulated form at spaced apart points to said band, and means wherebythe end portions of said elongated member are secured together with saidband elongated about a limb of a human body to cause said cushion memberwhile under longitudinal compression to press against said limb.

2. A tourniquet comprising an elongated tubular member encasing a bodymember of relatively high tensile strength to one side of which isattached at spaced apart points an undulated cushion member, an inwardlytoothed annular member secured to one end of said body member, and aresilient, toothed member carried by the other end of said body memberand adapted to be inserted into said toothed annular member to securethe end portions of said body member together.

3. A tourniquet comprising a pliable elongated elastic body member, arelatively thick elastic cushion member secured in an undulated positionat spaced apart intervals to one side of said elongated member andadapted to be moved to its normal extended position when said elongatedmember is stretched to an abnormal length by a predetermined force, atoothed annular member carried by one end of said body member, and atoothed member carried by the other end of said body member and adaptedto be inserted into said toothed annular member to secure the endportions of said body member together.

4. A tourniquet comprising an elongated pliable elastic body member, arelatively thick elastic cushion member secured in an undulated positionat spaced apart intervals along one side of said body member and adaptedto be extended to its normal extended position when said elongatedmember is stretched to an abnormal length by a predetermined force, anelastic tubular member covering said elongated member and cushionmember, and means 1for releasably securing together the extremities ofSaid elongated body member whereby said vbody member is held in astretched out position.

5. A tourniquet comprising an elongated, elastic body member, havingattached thereto in undulated form an elongated cushion member ofrelatively low tensile strength, an inwardly toothed annular membersecured to one end of said body member, and a resilient toothed membercarried by the other end of said body member and-adapted to be insertedinto said toothed annular member to secure the end portions of said bodymember together.

6. A tourniquet comprising an elastic body member of relatively hightensile strength; a relatively thick elastic cushion member ofrelatively low tensile strength, secured in undulated position at spacedapart intervals to one side of said elongated member and adapted to bemoved to its normal extended position when said body member is stretchedto an abnormal length by a predetermined force; and meansinterconnecting the end portions of said body member whereby it issecured in an extended position about an encircled body member.

7. A tourniquet comprising an elongated, elastic body member ofrelatively high tensile strength; an elastic cushion member of uniformthickness and of relatively 10W tensile strength, secured in undulatedposition at spaced apart intervals to one side of said body member, andadapted to be stretched to its normal position, when said body member isstretched to an abnormal length; and means secured to said body memberwhereby the opposite end portions thereof are secured together when thetourniquet is secured about a member.

8. A tourniquet comprising an elongated tubular member encasing anundulated cushion member of uniform thickness having one longitudinalside portion thereof secured to a body member of relatively greatertensile strength than said cushion member; a toothed member secured toone end of said body member, and a toothed member carried by the otherend of said body member whereby the tourniquet may be secured undertension about a body member.

' EDWARD S. SAIGHMAN.

